The Boy Who Lived
by Limmenel
Summary: One-shot: A short fanfic written for my enriched English class from a Death Eater's POV. Pre-Hogwarts. Marauder's Era. OC.


The Boy Who Lived

Neither the manor nor its grounds looked the least bit friendly. The spiky wrought iron gate had obviously been made to keep people out, as it was huge and intimidating, the posts decorated with ornate serpents. The manor's single tower loomed over the grounds, casting an ominous shadow across the dead grass. No person, wizard or muggle, dared go near the manor, and if they did, uninvited, it was very rare to see him or her again. They disappeared into thin air, almost as if they had never existed in the first place.

If anyone thought the manor alone was scary, the tiny graveyard just outside of the grounds was terrifying. There was no gate or fence for the graveyard, so those unfortunate enough to come across the manor could come and go as they pleased. Not that anyone wanted to. The thick mist that hung in the air both day and night scared off most, but those brave enough to enter the graveyard were never the same after they came back out of the mist. If they ever did return, that is.

From the outside, the manor looked abandoned (the shrubs were unclipped, the plants dead, and the ornate, stone statues were crumbling), but it was indeed inhabited. Inside of that manor, one man ruled, if you could even call him a man. Lord Voldemort resided there, calling his Death Eaters to do his bidding, often plotting ways to destroy those who got in his way on his quest for power over the wizarding world. And that was exactly why a tall, dark, hooded figure was slowly walking down the long, winding path toward the manor.

Sophia Landy had only been out of school for four years and she had already devoted her life to serving the Dark Lord and studying the Dark Arts. She was not the first Hogwarts graduate to do this, but one of many. It was her friend Bellatrix Lestrange that had first told her where to go if she was really as passionate about the Dark Arts as she seemed. At the time when she had pledged her allegiance to the Dark Lord she had been sure that that was how she wanted to spend the rest of her life, but since then, her faith in the Dark Lord had slowly been decreasing. Not that she didn't do his bidding, as she knew what would happen if she didn't, but she wasn't so sure that she wanted this kind of life, and now that she thought about it, had she ever?

Service to the Dark Lord had taken its toll on Sophie, physically and mentally. She used to be a very attractive young woman with long, wavy golden hair and bright hazel eyes, but now her hair was dirty blonde and limp. Her eyes were dull, no longer sparkling like they used to, and her complexion was incredibly pale.

Her appearance was not all that had changed. Sophie had begun to wonder if she was losing her sanity, as torturing and killing people had almost become a second nature, and she rarely hesitated anymore. Sophie had started to resent that part of her, and she wanted out before she turned into the kind of monster she had seen some of her former Slytherin friends become. There was one difference between her and the people that waited inside the manor; she could feel guilt and remorse, while they could not. But, guilty or not, when the Dark Mark on her left forearm had burned only minutes before, she had apparated directly to the path leading up to manor, afraid of her master and what he could do if she was late.

Sophie hurried up the path, long holly wand clutched so hard in her hand that her knuckles were beginning to turn white. She, like many other Death Eaters (even the strongest ones), was terrified of the grounds surrounding the manor, and she sometimes wondered how one could live in such a dark, dreary place. But, then again, she couldn't put much past Lord Voldemort.

She muttered a short incantation under her breath, and with a tiny flick of her wand, the imposing gate opened on its own. She hurried along, wasting no time getting to the main door. Like the gate, it was large and intimidating, but she tired to ignore the fear that was churning in the bottom of her stomach as she banged hard on the brass knocker, also in the shape of a serpent. It took a few minutes before anyone came to meet Sophie (it was a wonder they even _heard_ her) but eventually Lucius Malfoy, a tall man with long, bleach blonde hair and a walking stick containing his wand, came, lip curling in distaste, and led her down a long, dark hallway and stopped outside another large door, presumably leading to the room where she was supposed to meet Lord Voldemort.

Malfoy, who had never quite trusted Sophie, spoke quietly:

"You're lucky that the Dark Lord's trusting you with anything, Landy. Everyone knows your entire family are blood-traitors."

Sophie, who equally disliked her former classmate, spat back a sharp retort that was whispered so quietly that Malfoy had to strain to hear, and disappeared through the large door after knocking twice, cloak swirling around her ankles, not even waiting for a reply.

The room was chilly compared to the hallway she was just in, and was illuminated by many torches with flickering green flames. The room was large with no furniture except for one high-backed chair at the opposite end of the room, in front of a heatless, emerald fire. The floor was covered in an emerald rug designed with what Sophie could tell was a giant silver serpent, but the walls and high ceiling were both made of dark stone. Sophie noticed that there was no one in the room except for herself and the Dark Lord.

"Sophia."

One word. One word from the Dark Lord's mouth was enough to send shivers down her spine. Sophie tried not to squeak as she answered:

"Yes, my Lord?"

It was then that Lord Voldemort stood up and turned toward Sophie. She kneeled in front of him, eyes turned down, staring at the floor. She could feel his gaze burning into her skull, but she could not bring herself to meet his gaze. So Voldemort did it for her. With a wave of his wand, she looked up and found herself staring into blood red eyes. She tried hard not to shudder. She had only seen him once before, his snake-like features had scared her enough, but when she had first caught a glimpse of his eyes, she had sworn never to look straight into them. Now, as she did so, she was more terrified than she had ever been in her life.

The Dark Lord stared right into her eyes, and Sophie had the terrible feeling that he was performing Legimency, and she had never bothered to learn Occlumency. She could now feel his mind probing her own, and when he finally broke away from her equally unwavering gaze, she expected him to say something, but he did not. Sophie stayed silent.

"I have a job for you." He sounded almost like a snake, hissing with every word. Sophie thought what he said was incredibly obvious but she said nothing.

"I trust you enough to succeed. I believe you know Lily and James Potter?"

It was as though she had just swallowed a brick. She suddenly felt sick to her stomach.

Lily Evans, before she married James Potter, had been one of her best friends in school up until their sixth year. She and Lily were almost inseparable, despite the fact that Lily highly disagreed with her Gryiffindor friend's love for dangerous pranks and strange interest in the Dark Arts. Her sixth year was when Sophie had become interested in joining the Death Eaters, though she wasn't of age, and when Lily found out, she was furious. She had turned her back on Sophie, but Sophie had never actually believed that she had abandoned her old friend for good. At least, she hoped she hadn't. But Sophie had an idea of what was coming, and she didn't like it.

"You are to kill them," Voldemort hissed, and Sophie froze in mid blink. He also added in a low hiss, "And you are to kill their baby boy, _Harry Potter_."

Her, Sophia Landy, murder her former best friend, her best friend's husband, and an innocent _child_? She had done some horrible things in her life, all of which she now regretted deeply, but _never_ in her life would she have ever taken the life of a helpless child. This just justified her feeling that Voldemort was a cold, heartless murderer, something that, sadly, had taken her almost four years to realize. Sophie wanted to protest, but decided against it and kept her mouth tightly shut.

Voldemort gave her no explanation why, nor did he give her any preferred way of disposing of the Potters.

Of course, Sophie thought bitterly, it's so obvious a first year Hogwarts student could figure it out. She had to use the Killing Curse, the third and worst of all the Unforgivable Curses.

Lord Voldemort raised a pale, bony hand and gestured to the door. Sophie rose to her feet, taking this as a sign for her to leave. She slipped out of the room silently, closing the door and leaning heavily against it, releasing a small groan. What she had not noticed right away were Bellatrix Lestrange, Lucius Malfoy, and a few more of their Death Eater friends waiting for her outside. Someone must have seen the horrified and distraught look on her face as she came out, for Bellatrix was now laughing at her.

"Was poor little Sophie scared?" Bellatrix taunted, pouting and using an imitation of a baby voice. Sophie could feel the colour rising to her cheeks, and Bellatrix giggled with pleasure.

Sophie tried to leave but Bellatrix blocked her way. The other Death Eaters were watching from behind Lucius, who was standing a few inches from Bellatrix's left shoulder, and all were barely trying to conceal smirks and a few grins. Sophie glared back, but she felt like a small schoolgirl being picked on by the school bullies.

Bellatrix and two other Death Eaters, her husband Rodolphus Lestrange and a tall man by the name of Theodore Knott, continued mocking her, but a small body weaved its way through the small crowd of people and nervously approached Sophie, muttering under his breath.

"Come with me, ma'am," he muttered, trembling at the very sight of the big door leading to the room in which the Dark Lord resided. Sophie knew that this small man was Peter Pettigrew, or more commonly known as Wormtail, a timid man with whom she had gone to school with. She remembered how close he had been to James Potter and his friends, and like her with Lily, abandoned them. Well, not entirely, as Sophie knew that he kept a regular contact with the Potters by owl. He had become even more timid (more like paranoid) since joining the Death Eaters, and he was constantly throwing glances over his shoulder and scurrying down the hall at a very fast pace that Sophie would not expected to come from him. She broke into a slow jog in order to keep up with him as they turned a corner, and Sophie realized why his animagus took the shape of a rat.

"Wormtail! Will you slow down and tell me what's going on?" she hissed, catching up with him as he stopped in front of a smaller door and opened it. He gestured for her to go inside (it was just an unused room used for storage), and she did, hoping to get some answers out of him. He made sure that the door was securely shut before he turned to her and spoke.

"The Dark Lord…he said that I was to inform you…I don't want to because Sirius Black…But you should know…" And he continued muttering small strings of nonsense before Sophie started to make an impatient clicking noise with her tongue and he looked up at her with a sad expression that quickly faded and was replaced by fear as he began to speak again.

"I was told to inform you that I am the Secret Keeper of the Potter residence," he said, much louder and with a small hint of pride in his voice that also disappeared quickly. "The Dark Lord told me that you were going to…" He couldn't finish, and there was an awkward silence for a few minutes, so Sophie finished for him.

"You're supposed to tell me how to get past the Fidelius Charm on their cottage?" Sophie spoke much more gently as she looked down upon the small, quivering man before her. She knew exactly how he felt, uneasy about betraying their friends. For a rare moment, she crouched beside him so that she could see him better and murmured in a quiet, calming voice, as if she was speaking to a small child, "I don't want to hurt them either, Peter, but we have to."

Wormtail looked surprised. Even in school, Sophie had never liked him much, and he had never heard her sound so nice before. But the feeling of compassion was wiped away as Sophie mentally kicked herself. She would never be able to do her job properly if she admit to feeling guilty! Wormtail saw a tiny change in her expression as she rose to her full height, and he gave her the instructions and watched, bewildered by the last few minutes, as she left the room, slamming the door behind her.

As she returned to the main hallway, she saw the rest of the Death Eaters filing one by one out of the same room that she had been in what seemed like only seconds before. Bellatrix looked at her as she rushed past her, looking confused and amazed. Sophie guessed that, from the surprised looks on the other Death Eaters' faces, they had been briefed on what was going to happen. She understood their confusion, she couldn't quite believe it herself, because Voldemort rarely entrusted anything this important (she could tell from the almost desperate way he spoke as he told her to kill the Potters). But as she continued walking back to the main door, ready to leave, Severus Snape caught up to her.

There was an expression of evident pain on his face, almost hidden by his greasy curtains of black hair. His matching black eyes searched hers and he stepped back a bit, visibly disappointed.

"Is it true? Is Lily going…is she going to die?" When he said this, Sophie remembered Snape's long-lasting love for the former Gryffindor student. She gave him a sympathetic look but said nothing.

Sophie couldn't bear to look at Snape, so she just turned on her heel and left.



Three days later, on the thirty-first of October, at ten minutes to ten in the evening, the sun had set and Sophie was making her way to the Potters' small cottage in Godric's Hollow.

She had never been there before, and if she had ever wanted to visit, these would not have been the circumstances. She muttered the incantations of the charms that Wormtail had taught her. They were easy enough, and Sophie, who had (to the normal muggle eye) been standing in front of an empty lot, could now see the small, peaceful cottage.

Sophie was nervous as she approached the front door, which was locked. She hesitated for a brief moment, but she continued on, letting herself in with another spell ("Alohomora!").

There was barely any front hallway, just two doors on either side of her and a small staircase leading upstairs. From where she stood, Sophie could tell that no lights were on and the family was most likely asleep. She decided not to create any light with her wand and use the darkness to her advantage.

Sophie crept up the stairs, assuming that was where little Harry's room was. There were four doors that she could see, and Sophie chose the first one, directly to her left. She opened the door just a crack so she could peak inside. She saw the many dark shapes of toys, and, at the back of the room in front of a window, a crib.

As Sophie entered the room and walked over to the crib, she considered turning around and leaving, right then and there. The sight of the messy haired child sleeping peacefully made her smile, but, fearing for her own life if she didn't go through with it, she pointed her wand at little Harry. He didn't stir.

"Avada Kedav –" Halfway through the two most painful words Sophie had ever spoken, Harry began to cry. Not because some strange woman was standing over him with her wand pointed at his tiny heart, but most likely because he was hungry or wanted some attention. Sophie froze and looked over at the door as she heard approaching footsteps moments later.

Lily Potter entered the room, dressed in a nightgown and slippers, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Sophie had not had the time to move after she had recovered from her shock, and, once the other woman turned on the light, Lily screamed for her husband and launched herself at Sophie.

Lily might not have recognized Sophie, who had been wearing a hooded cloak and an ornate silver mask, but the moment the two women tumbled to the floor, Sophie's good and mask had been thrown off, and revealed a familiar face. Sophie had at first been horrified, she had not wanted Lily to recognize her, but was then thankful.

Lily was just staring, and Sophie used the unexpected distraction to throw Lily off of her and grab her wand, which she had dropped beside Harry's crib when Lily jumped on her. She pointed her wand at Lily, who had not yet moved.

"Sophie?" Lily's voice was barely more than a whisper, and her bright green eyes revealed a mixture of shock, fear, and…pity?

Sophie wouldn't meet her gaze. Instead, she glanced at little Harry, now being picked up by James Potter who must have rushed in after Lily screamed. He left with Harry, obviously bringing him into some other room, away from any danger. Sophie had not even seen or heard him come into the room. But Lily, who stood up and who was just figuring out what had just taken place before she had awoken, would not let Sophie even take one look at her son now. She did was mothers did best: fight to protect their children.

Lily had whipped her wand out from her nightgown pocket (Sophie was surprised that she kept it with her, even when she slept) and started out in a low voice that increased to a yell, "You tried to kill my son, Landy. STUPEFY!"

Sophie had barely jumped out of the way when the stunning spell hit a lamp behind her and the lamp exploded. Both women had forgotten that they used to be friends and hadn't wanted to harm one another and were now dueling to the best of their ability. From the other room, Harry's terrified screams could be heard, but Sophie and Lily were too busy throwing spell after spell at each other.

"Duro!" A flash of dark red hair could be seen as Lily spun around and ducked out of the way.

"Impedimenta!" Sophie just barely dodged it and sent a jet of red light ricocheting off the walls when Lily dodged her stunner.

"Diffindo!"

"Protego!"

"_Crucio_!"

Lily shrieked in pain immediately when Sophie's curse hit her. At that same moment, James had entered to see his wife fall to the floor, being tortured by a woman he had never liked, and, after graduation, had hoped never to see again. James was livid, and the fury in his eyes was a terrifying sight, even for Sophie who had seen much worse.

"Petrificus totalus!" Sophie let out an angry scream and tried to jump out of the way, but tripped over one of Harry's large toy blocks, and, at the same time, James's spell hit her straight on. She felt her entire body stiffen as she fell, and soon she could not move anything but her eyes, but lie on the ground watching James.

Lily was now back on her feet, shaking, and she was eyeing Sophie with a look of pure hatred, one Sophie would have never imagined Lily capable of producing. She held onto her husband's arm, and whispered something to him that Sophie could not hear. Instantly, James began glaring directly at Sophie, and pointed his wand at her. Sophie, who still could only move her eyes, closed them tightly, waiting for him to kill her. But the familiar jet of green light never came, instead, James muttered bitterly:

"Finite incantatem."

Surprised and annoyed, Sophie scrambled to her feet and gave James the most grateful look she could muster at that particular moment in time. He just continued glaring back and spoke again:

"I'm letting you go because you're a friend of Lily's. But if you _ever_ come near our family again, _ever_, I will kill you myself! Now go away!"

Sophie needed no more persuasion; she turned on the spot and disapparated.



Later, at a quarter after eleven o'clock, Sophie sat on a swing in a public park, not far from her own flat at the edge of London. The air was chilly, and she had pulled her cloak tightly around herself. She just sat there, swinging low to the ground, letting the toes of her black boots drag in the damp dirt. She had come to think, to think of the events that she had just escaped from, and what the Dark Lord would do to her when he called on her.

First, she had been surprised that James had called her "a friend of Lily's". Was that what she had whispered in his ear? Did Lily Potter really still consider her a friend? After all the things she had done, after almost killing her son, did Lily really still care about her? She stared at the dirt, remembering all the times she had had so much fun with Lily, wondering how Lily could honestly still think of her as a friend. She almost laughed. Lily always had been softhearted. Too willing to trust people.

She had not been surprised at all by James's reaction to her sudden appearance. The two of them had never gotten along very well, and Sophie couldn't say that their feelings had changed. At least the feeling was still mutual.

She was also highly disturbed by what she had been about to do. The image of Harry sleeping peacefully as she entered the room and the screams that had filled the other room while she and Lily fought, kept replaying in her memory. She had been ready to murder a child, and the child of one her best friends, to top that. She knew that if Voldemort was going to kill her for failing him, she was ready if that was the price she had to pay.

But another perk to the situation was that the fight had ended quickly. Sometimes Sophie wished that she was like the other Death Eaters, and she wished that she didn't feel the guilt that was always threatening to overwhelm her…

Sophie walked silently home that night, and when she tried to go to bed, it took her almost an hour to fall asleep.



When she woke up the next morning, it was to the sound of an owl scratching its talons on her window, trying to get her to open it. When she did, the owl flew in, dropped the _Daily Prophet _in her outstretched hand and she put a sickle in the small leather pouch tired to its leg. It flew off, and Sophie closed the window again, blinking her eyes against the bright sunlight. She looked at the clock on the nightstand beside her bed, and it said:

"It's a quarter to noon, you sleepy head! Quit being lazy and get up and do something!"

Note to self, Sophie thought, still sleepy. Get a clock that isn't so rude next time.

She was surprised that she had slept so long, she normally didn't, but now that she was up, she highly doubted she's be able to go back to sleep. She also noticed that she had fallen asleep in her robes without changing.

When Sophie unrolled the _Daily Prophet_ the previous night's events came flooding back to her. What reminded her was the first word of the article on the front page: Voldemort. She was curious to see what it was about, so she flopped onto the bed and lay down on her stomach and read the headline:

_He Who Must Not Be Named Vanishes! Wizarding Society Celebrates!_

Sophie's mouth hung open as she read more of the article.

_Late last night, a young woman passing by the Potter residence in Godric's Hollow, said that she saw that half their house was gone, and Albus Dumbledore was leaving their property. _

_Madelaine Montgomery, 24, did not give us many details, as she was in a hurry to get to work at St. Mungo's, but said that she was suspicious so she went to ask Dumbledore what had happened._

"_He said that he didn't know for sure, and I believed him. I mean, this is Dumbledore, and I trust him, so I just went on my way. But then I remembered that my aunt knows some people from the _Daily Prophet_ so I contacted her, and sure enough, you're writing an article!" says Montgomery._

_We went to interview Dumbledore, who seemed very hurried and did not want to talk, but he said one thing:_

"_I have sufficient evidence that Lord Voldemort is gone. I think that we can all come out of hiding and we have something to celebrate."_

_He would not tell us how or why You-Know-Who has vanished, but we at the _Daily Prophet_ believe the words of Albus Dumbledore, and we look very forward to getting out party hats out…_

Sophie did not read have to read anything more to know that the whole wizarding community had a reason to celebrate. Even she did. She had always wished for a way out, a way to be free from Lord Voldemort's control. Finally, _finally_, after four years, she had one! Sophie reread the first bit of the article and reread it again. She had to pinch herself to make sure she actually was awake, and once she was satisfied that she was, she reread the article _again_.

She had to admit that she was curious to know how the Dark Lord had been defeated, but she wasn't complaining. She trusted Albus Dumbledore, just like almost everyone else. If Dumbledore said Voldemort was gone, then Voldemort was gone.

So, for the first time in years, Sophie smiled. Not a fake, evil, cruel, mocking smile, but a sincere, happy smile. Lord Voldemort had detested any kind of happy smiling, so now that she was free of him, Sophie smiled as much as she could.

Later that day, Sophie, who was a fairly well known Death Eater in London, had used quite a few permanent, and difficult, spells to change her appearance. Her hair was now shoulder-length and black with a wispy fringe, and her eyes bright blue. She didn't make too many changes, just enough for her not to be recognized. Once she was satisfied, she grabbed her cloak and apparated straight to the Leaky Cauldron. She was going to walk straight through and head to Diagon Alley and celcbrate her new freedom, but someone's mutterings caught her attention.

"I heard that Dumbledore announced that Lily and James Potter are dead," whispered an elderly witch. Her companion was nodding solemnly.

A wizard from the next table over had obviously overheard and said, "I 'eard that their son's still alive! 'Arry Potter's 'is name! 'E's the only one known to 'ave survived the killing curse!"

The elderly witch nodded, and Sophie had to lean closer to hear.

"I hear he's called The Boy Who Lived."

**Author's Note: Yeah so I wrote this for my Enriched English class.**

**Thanks, and reviews are appreciated.**

**-Lim  
**


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